The Spanish Dollar

The monetary system in Castile in the second half of the 15th century was in chaos. The maravedí, the main currency of account, had been continually devalued since the 13th century. In addition, there were different regional currencies in the Iberian kingdoms, which complicated the economics of the political unification initiated by the wedding of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon.\n\n For this reason, a monetary reform was initiated in this year, establishing a new gold coin, the ducat, and a new silver coin, the real, for use in both kingdoms. Given the unexpectedly large influx of silver coming from the Americas in the following decades, the use of the 'real de a ocho', which soon became widely known as the 'Spanish dollar', skyrocketed. It is considered the first global currency, since it was accepted by merchants all over the world, from Africa to America and from Europe to Asia.